Title

Smokestack Pollution

Problem Scenario

Whenever I run along my road I notice all the trucks that pass by and all the smoke that leaves the smokestacks. That happens every day when large trucks displace large quantities of smoke. I want to see how to alter the amount of pollution that trucks or even large factories displace into the air and then go into the atmosphere.

Broad Question

How will the different smokestacks affect pollution?

Specific Question

Will the height of a smokestack affect the amount of pollution being displaced in the air?

Hypothesis

I think the higher the smokestack, the less amount of pollution that will go into the air.

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable: Height of smokestack

Dependent Variable: Amount of smoke

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

Time of day for experiment
Temperature at the breach (In the stove)
Weather condition's - Temperature humidity - Wind Speed
Duration of burn

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

Smoke: The vaporous system made up of small particles of carbonaceous matter in the air, resulting mainly from the burning of organic material, such as wood or coal.
Smokestack: A large chimney or vertical pipe through which combustion vapors, gases, and smoke are discharged.
Fire: A rapid, persistent chemical change that releases heat and light and is accompanied by flame, especially the exothermic oxidation of a combustible substance.
Smoke Opacity:
The condition of lacking transparency or translucence; opaqueness

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General Plan

For my science fair project I plan to test to see if the taller smokestack, will displace the least amount of smoke in the air. My plan to make this work is that I will build a fire source presumably an evaporator. Then I will put a metal smokestack a few inches on top of the fire source. I will take 3 tests for each of the sized smokestacks. I will have 6 different sizes for the smokestacks. The beginning size for the pipe will be 9 feet long. Each of the sizes will 3 feet apart from the other. I will record all the smoke remains on the paper when I arrive at school and then I will record the data in my notebook.

Potential Problems And Solutions

So problems that I will face during my experiment is the possibility of my fire source dying out from cold and windy weather. To prevent that problem from occurring I will make sure that I will have extra wood for if that were to happen. Another possible issue is my tape catching fire so I will not use tape I will use a smokes tester that shows the amount . My last concern is burning my hands so I will wear safety gloves and glasses as well.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

The smoke from the smokestack will create pollution in the air and that is a concern to the environment. Some smoke will be blocked at the top of the smokestack because I will place a strip of tape for the smoke to stick into. I will be using sticks from my yard and my woods behind my house and that will affect some life and many systems that were using the branches and sticks.

Experimental Design

Number Of Trials: 3

Number Of Subjects In Each trial: 6 Sizes

When data will be collected: After Procedure

Number of Observations: 4

Where will data be collected?: In Compositions notebook.

Resources and Budget Table

Item	Number needed	Where I will get this	Cost
Metal Piping	Six	At home	$0.00
Fire Wood	Varied	At home	$0.00
Kindling Wood	Varied	At home	$0.00
Evaporator	One	At home	$0.00

Detailed Procedure

1) Place the certain sized smokestack on the fire stove.
2) Acquire a camera to take photo's for every trial.
3) Light the fire in the stove with the smokestack attached to the stove.
4) Wait 5 minutes after setting the fire for the first trial to be done.
5) Make sure the three sizes are the tested for 15 minutes.
6) Repeat steps 4-5, 3 times and place all tape strips in a container and label them.
7) Record all masses in my science notebook and then graph the data.

Diagram

Photo List

The fire source creating smoke.
All of the trials that have smoke being displaced in the air.

Time Line

2/1-Procedure, 2/4-Begin experiments, 3/1-Experiments done, 3/7-Analysis, 3/15-Discussion/ Background, 3/15-Wiki complete, 3/22-Poster's complete, 3/29- KMS fair.

Data Table

Size of Smokestack (ft)	Trial 1 (in.)	Trial 2 (in.)	Trial 3 (in.)	Average
7.5 feet
12.5 feet
17.5 feet

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Data Analysis

All Raw Data

Size of Smokestack (Meter's)	Trial 1 (in.)	Trial 2 (in.)	Trial 3 (in.)	Average
2.286 Meter's	7.775	8.95	9.95	8.89166
3.81 Meter's	12.425	11.475	10.675	11.525
5.334 Meter's	10.975	12	10.1	11.025

Graphs

Photos

Results

The three sized smokestacks displaced the almost the same amount of smoke. However the middle sized smokestack displaced the most smoke but not by much smoke.

Conclusion

According to my data a smokestack that is 3.81 meter's high will produce the most smoke. One of the main things that will affect smoke from being displaced into the air is the wind and the amount of gusts. I noticed how the wind effected my experiment in a major way. The smallest smokestack was not displacing as much smoke. However my hypothesis is proven wrong because I believed that the smaller smokestack would displace the most smoke but I noticed that all the sizes displaced the same amount of smoke.

Discussion

Based on my data I feel as though further investigations would not alter my theory. However a way to make my theory better is to measure the amount of smoke that travels on the ground due to weather. When I went a size up the wind began to tip the smokestacks and smoke was being displaced upwards. If I decided to continue adding on smokestacks that would be psychically impossible because the wind was blowing the smokestacks over and damaging the smokestacks making them unworkable.

Benefit to Community and/or Science

I wanted this project to be directed towards everyday pollution because pollution is a huge factor of everyday life. My plan was to see if there was a easy way to limited the amount of pollution that is being displaced into the air. I could not find a difference in the smoke that is being displaced.

Background Research

Smoke from your solid fuel burning device cannot exceed twenty percent opacity for six consecutive minutes. Smoke and smoke opacity meters are instruments measuring the optical properties of diesel exhaust. These instruments have been designed to quantify the visible black smoke emission utilizing such physical phenomena as the extinction of a light beam by scattering and absorption. In general, smoke and opacity meters are much simpler (some of them very simple) and less costly in comparison to most of the instruments described in the preceding sections. They are used to evaluate smoke emissions in locations outside the laboratory, such as in maintenance shops or in the field. In fact, the smoke opacity measurement is the only relatively low-cost and widely available method to measure a PM-related emission parameter in the field. For this reason, opacity limits are used in most inspection and maintenance programs for diesel engines. Smoke opacity limits may be also included as auxiliary limits in new engine emission standards.

References

http://www.dieselnet.com/tech/measure_opacity.php
http://www.cadieselcompliance.com/smoke_opacity_testing.html

Abstract

This project tests to see if different sized smokestacks will displace certain amounts. I came to the conclusion that all three sized smokestacks displace around the same amount of smoke but all in different opacity's. The reason why is because no matter the size of a smokestack, you will still displace the same amount of smoke. When you create a fire with something to contain it but also something to allow the smoke to be displaced into the air, the same amount of smoke will be displaced but in different opacity's. The smoke traveled through the smokestack and was displaced in the air, in different shapes. That is what is known as, opacity.